1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910392721803321

Autore

Kessel Alexander

Titolo

Generation and Parametric Amplification of Few‐Cycle Light Pulses at Relativistic Intensities [[electronic resource] /] / by Alexander Kessel

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2018

ISBN

3-319-92843-0

Edizione

[1st ed. 2018.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XXII, 165 p. 86 illus. in color.)

Collana

Springer Theses, Recognizing Outstanding Ph.D. Research, , 2190-5053

Disciplina

621.36

Soggetti

Lasers

Photonics

Quantum optics

Microwaves

Optical engineering

Optics, Lasers, Photonics, Optical Devices

Quantum Optics

Microwaves, RF and Optical Engineering

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- Fundamentals -- The Petawatt Field Synthesizer System -- Seed Generation Schemes -- OPCPA Experiments with Two OPA Stages -- Preparations for a Third OPA Stage -- Summary and Outlook.

Sommario/riassunto

This book reports on the development of a pioneering light source architecture of the so-called Petawatt Field Synthesizer (PFS) system, which is based on short-pulse pumped, optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA), driven by a homemade, 1-ps diode-pumped Yb:YAG. At a few-cycle pulse duration of the amplified pulses, this architecture yields record levels of peak power and temporal contrast, the latter boasting a 100-times faster rise time from the noise level to peak intensity of the pulse compared to conventional laser systems. This allows investigation of the true laser–solid interaction without premature plasma expansion and without lossy pulse cleaning by e.g. plasma mirrors. The book describes several concepts for the



generation of broadband, high-energy and high-contrast seed pulses, as well as the OPCPA development, few-cycle pulse compression and contrast characterization in a concise and insightful manner. The theory chapter serves as an excellent and accessible primer on OPCPA and other nonlinear interactions, while the experimental parts provide an excellent description of the challenges of developing such a novel architecture and some of the innovative solutions to overcome them.